“No? Then I’m not sure why we’re not going out. Especially when it’s clear you could use a little release.”
I might not have been up close and personal with her these past two weeks, but even from a distance, I’d been able to see the incremental stiffening of her shoulders, the tight lines around her mouth, the pinch of her brow. With the ocean steps away, I’d have thought that would’ve eased some tension in her, but instead, it only seemed to increase the longer she was in town.
And I wanted to know why.
“I already told you,” she said. “I’m not sleeping with you.”
A slow smile crept across my mouth, and I pushed away from her car, stepping directly into her space. Her eyes flared with…something…a second before she tamped it down.
“Believe me, kitten, there’d be no sleeping involved. And I never said anything about serving up orgasms, but it’s good to know where your mind’s going.”
“My mind’s not—” She groaned and pressed her fingers to her temples. “It’s been a shitty day, Ford, and I really don’t want to do this with you right now.”
I glanced over to where Don’s car had been parked and scowled. I knew enough from Mabel’s incessant gossiping that Quinn was going head-to-head with that dickhead day after day, so no wonder she was a little tense. If I had to be around him for that long, I’d probably want to jump out a window. And I ran intoburning buildings for a living, so that said a lot.
“Look,” I said, softening my voice before she could throw another obstacle in my way. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal. One of the volunteer firefighters is opening a new place just outside of town. He’s doing a soft launch tonight, and I told him I’d stop by, see what it’s all about. We’d be doing him a favor.” I left out the part about me plying her with alcohol so she could loosen up a bit and relax. Fuck knew she needed it.
She narrowed her eyes, her tone laced with suspicion. “What kind of place?”
“Ever been axe throwing?”
“No…” she said, but I could tell by her expression that the thought of being in proximity to a weapon while around me was appealing.
“I see that gleam in your eye. You’re thinking about murdering me, aren’t you?”
“I’m a doctor who pledged her life to help others. Of course I’m not thinking about murdering you.”
“Just maiming, then.”
She didn’t deny it, instead crossing her arms and lifting a single shoulder in a shrug. Goddamn, why did my dick get hard every time she was feisty?
“Come on,” I said. “It’ll be, like, thirty minutes, we’ll get you a drink, you can throw some shit, and I’ve helped out a friend.”
“And that’s it?”
I scratched my jaw, not quite sure how to play this. If I didn’t get in actual date-like activities, my sister was going to kill me. Addison was a little dictator on a good day, but after Quinn had bid on me at the auction, my sister had made it her mission to make sure I knew I couldn’t fuck this up. Not when she was finally close to getting a permanent female doctor in town when she’d had to suffer through years of Don blaming every ailment on her period.
But I could cross that bridge when I got to it. Right now, I just needed Quinn to agree to this. So, I lied.
“Yep.”
“Fine,” she said on a sigh. “But if you think I’m driving anywhere with you, you’re more delusional than I thought. I’ll drive myself—afterI’ve stopped by home to change.” She opened the rear door of her car and tossed in her bag, glancing at me over her shoulder. “How’d you know where to find me anyway?”
Because it was 5:17 on a Friday night, and, as previously established, Quinn did not deviate from her schedule. This night out was no doubt going to throw off her whole weekend.
“Anyone with a working set of eyeballs and half a brain cell knows where you are at a specific time on any given day, because you do the same thing week after week, without fail,” I said, unable to keep the frustration out of my tone.
“What’s with the shitty attitude?” She shut the rear door and turned around, crossing her arms over her chest as she regarded me with a raised brow. “And why does my schedule concern you whatsoever?”
“I don’t have a shitty attitude,” I lied. There was no fucking way I was admitting that I hated the thought of anyone but me knowing where she was at any given point on any given day. I could barely admit it to myself. “I just think it would be a good idea to shake things up once in a while, so any potential stalkers won’t know exactly where to find you at 6:02 on a Monday night—at the dry cleaners, by the way. And relax, we can swing by and grab your emergency late-night emotional support coffee on the way. Although this’ll be your third this week. Do you really think you need another one?”
“I paid two grand to go out on a date with my sworn rival. What do you think? And you realize it’s creepy as hell that you know my schedule enough to be aware when I’ve had two extra coffees, right?”
I reached around her, opening the driver’s side door for her. “Don’t flatter yourself. I know that stuff about everyone.”
She scoffed. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. Beck is at the farmers market every Saturday morning by ten, Brady does a drive-through of the resort every morning at six, Aiden—”
